One of the most ubiquitous items used in the daily lives of humans is clothing. For millions of years humans have sought to cover their bodies, or certain parts of their bodies, for protection against injury or inclement weather and for modesty. As time progressed clothing took on other personal and social purposes. Today clothing is still used to satisfy the original needs and also, for many people, as a sign of social status. The purchasing of clothing has become a key factor in the economic success of many individuals and businesses.
Clothing has also become more diversified. There are definite styles and types of clothing that are purpose specific, such as business attire and casual wear, as well as specialized clothing for certain occupations and events, such as athletic apparel.
Depending on the need/purpose, an article of clothing can be extremely durable and long-lasting, or it can be fragile and easily damaged. Regardless of how strong, well-made and durable an article of clothing is, or how fragile, any piece of clothing can be damaged under certain circumstances.
Since the majority of clothing is made of a fabric material, the most common damage that occurs is a rip or tear. Depending on how severe a rip or tear is, and where on the clothing it occurs, will determine whether the clothing can be repaired or is beyond repair. For small, discreet rips and tears, repairing the damage is typically an easy job requiring a minimal amount of stitching or the use of a patch.
Since the introduction of heat-activated patches, which are also known as iron-on patches, it was become very easy for an average person to quickly repair a torn or ripped article of clothing. Preferably, a patch will be made of the same or similar material that it is repairing.
Unfortunately, heat-activated patches are not applicable to all types of clothing. Until relatively recently there was significant difficulty in repairing a rip or tear in a stretchable material, such as an athletic jersey. There is now a heat-activated material that can be used to repair or fuse together stretchable fabric but typically the material is only available in large quantities. What is needed is a smaller quantity, readily accessible repair/fusing material that would allow a person to quickly and easily perform a repair or fuse multiple pieces of stretchable or non-stretchable fabric together.
A search of the prior art did not disclose literature or patents that read directly on the claims of the instant invention. However, the following U.S. patents are considered related.
PAT. NO.INVENTORISSUED3,747,776Gross24 Jul. 19735,676,785Samonides14 Oct. 19977,458,177B2Sandel et al2 Dec. 2008
The U.S. Pat. No. 3,747,776 discloses a detachable pocket which is formed as a pouch-like element having at least one substantially flat face. The pocket is provided with an adhesive backing on the flat face and a removable cover which protects the adhesive backing. When the detachable pocket is used, the cover is removed and the adhesive backing of the detachable pocket is applied to a supporting surface.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,785 discloses a pressure-sensitive adhesive-backed substrate such as a printed label which is produced on a release-coated carrier sheet with printed label indicia sandwiched between a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer and an overlying protecting, preferably transparent, thermoplastic layer. The process for producing the adhesive backed substrate features the extrusion of a water-based, pressure-sensitive acrylic adhesive layer onto the substrate in as near a dry state as possible without heat. Additionally, in the label-making process, the overlying thermoplastic layer also may be extruded.
The U.S. Pat. No. 7,458,177B2 discloses a flag for labeling drugs or medications provided in a medication cup. The invention has a cup section with an adhesive back surface peelably attached to a backing sheet. A flag section is attached to the cup section of the flag at a bend line. A flag strip also having an adhesive back surface is supplied on the backing sheet. The flag section is labeled with a marker or a preprinted label to indicate the contents.
PAT. NO.INVENTORISSUED5,437,228Uland1 Aug. 19955,497,701Uland12 Mar. 19966,755,321B2Solovay et al29 Jun. 20047,097,040B1Gutentag29 Aug. 2006